Recycle Week & magic5

This week is Recycle Week in the UK, and you may have seen some of the recycling related facts that have cropped up over the weekend and this morning. For example:

480 bottles are used in the average UK household but only 270 are recycled (44%)

It takes 75% less energy to make a plastic bottle from an old plastic bottle compared to using raw materials (a whopping 95% less for metals!)

Recycling 35 tea bags can provide enough energy to power a TV for 1 hour

So you recycle at home; your plastics and cardboard go in the green box, and the weekends’ bottles and that tin of beans go in the black box. You’re mindful of your carbon footprint, so walking when suitable is the preferred option, and you switch off all the plugs and lights before you go to bed.

But what about the workplace? ORSGroup found that the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper a year, of which 6,800 are considered wastage. This works out at approximately 40 sheets of paper per day – of which 26 are ‘wastage’.

When you consider the office environment and every meeting agenda that is printed, every checklist that is handed out, the copious amounts of form filling, and the threatening note stuck above the microwave every fish-Friday then actually… that really is a lot of paper.

1kg of paper (between 50-100 sheets depending on quality) amounts to just under 1kg of carbon emissions, so by recycling you can cut up to 1kg from your carbon footprint – that’s 1 weeks’ worth of paper waste!

If we look at the above statistics from a financial point of view, a box of paper may cost you £10. In that box, you may get 2,500 sheets. Each individual is wasting approximately 70% (1750 sheets) of that.

You are spending £10 to then waste £7 of it. Per employee, and it only takes them2-3 months. Imagine if the rest of your budget was utilised and wasted in the same way…

So how about saving even more money and just going paperless?

By transferring your processes to devices that you already use, you’ll find you are no longer spending money on wasting paper and other materials which are producing carbon emissions (albeit less if you are recycling!).

Speak to us at magic5 today if you’re interested in reducing your carbon footprint and making the first step towards a more efficient and productive workforce.